Bruins beat Blackhawks behind Rask, Bergeron

The Bruins blanked the Chicago Blackhawks in the teams' first meeting at TD Garden since last year's Stanley Cup finals. Tuukka Rask recorded his NHL–leading 7th shutout and Patrice Bergeron scored two goals to add to his league-high plus-minus rating.

BOSTON - On a more perfectly scripted evening, they’d have done their jobs, and then learned after quitting time that they’d clinched one of the championships up for grabs.

No matter. It’s only a matter of time before the Bruins become the NHL’s first Atlantic Division champions, and if they continue to play as they have this month, first place in the Eastern Conference and even the No. 1 slot in the NHL could be theirs, too.

Thursday night, the B’s were more than satisfied to rebound from Monday night’s shootout loss to Montreal, which ended a winning streak at 12 games. They did so by defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, 3-0, at TD Garden – where the ’Hawks so memorably won the Cup in Game 6 of the Final last June 24.

“We knew it was against them,” defenseman Johnny Boychuk said, “and we wanted to come out and play great,” but the Bruins’ main concern, as has been the case since even before the Olympic break (remember the 9-2-2 streak before Sochi?), was more about playing properly than adding points.

Which they did, to the point where the game fell far short of the hype that came before it. The Bruins’ start wasn’t the best, so Tuukka Rask (28 saves) had to make the bulk of his most his challenging stops in the first period, but the B’s gradually slowed the usually relentless Blackhawks – playing without 2013 playoff MVP Patrick Kane, who’s hurt – and dictated the pace.

“It was kind of a weird game,” said Rask, 8-0-1 in his last nine starts after his league-leading seventh shutout. “A lot of it was played in the neutral zone – not too many scoring chances on either end. So, we managed it better than they did, and it paid off for us.”

The Bruins played so well, the 1-0 lead Patrice Bergeron gave them when he tipped Matt Bartkowski’s shot past Corey Crawford after 11:50 might have stood up until the final buzzer. That they scored twice within 13 seconds early in the third period, though, made for a better story.

Bergeron, who had already extended his goal-scoring streak to a career-high five games, followed Carl Soderberg’s 14th of the season with his 25th. While he probably won’t match the career-high 31 goals he scored in 2005-06, Bergeron’s goal output is the second-best of his career, and second-best on the team this year to Jarome Iginla’s 28.

And he’s not skimping on his well-established defensive game, either. Plus-2 on Thursday, Bergeron leads the league at plus-38.

Page 2 of 2 - “I think it’s pretty clear to everyone who’s watched (Bergeron) play that he values every part of his game,” coach Claude Julien said. “Whether it’s faceoff percentage (he won 15 of 21 on Thursday – 71 percent), plus-minus ... he takes those things very seriously.

“I think he’s proud of what he is. He’s comfortable in the role he’s asked to play, and at the same time, it’s always nice to see guys like that get rewarded with some decent stats, which he deserves.”

Bergeron, who famously played Game 6 of last year’s finals with lung, rib and shoulder injuries, credited wingers Brad Marchand and Reilly Smith for helping him boost his scoring totals, but said production isn’t his primary goal.

“I’m definitely happy it’s going in,” he said, “but that being said, I’m happy when I defend a goal as much as scoring them.”

Thursday’s win, which would have clinched the division title if Tampa Bay had lost, gave the B’s a nine-point lead over Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference standings, and kept them within a point of St. Louis in the overall standings.

And yes, it was nice to do all that against the Blackhawks.

“There is definitely some history with them from last year,” Bergeron said, “It’s always fun to be a part of those games.”

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @MLoftus_Ledger.